Man with mask, gun gets state prison for stalking ex

Luis Lopez of Allentown will serve 3 to 8 years.

Already wanted by police for threatening his ex-girlfriend, police found an Allentown man early one July morning outside her house with a mask, gun and a box of ammunition in his car.

Luis Lopez, 46, acknowledged at his sentencing Thursday in Lehigh County Court that the evidence against him doesn't look good, but he insisted he wasn't about to carry out a shooting.

"I'm not a criminal," Lopez said, crying. "I'm not a bad guy."

The tearful pleas for mercy didn't stop Judge James T. Anthony from sending Lopez to state prison for three to eight years.

"This is a domestic situation that could have gone awry," Anthony said. "Very much awry. You have to control your emotions."

According to police:

Lopez was captured shortly after being spotted at 1 a.m. July 30 on the porch of his ex-girlfriend's home in the 900 block of North 13th Street. His ex, Noraima Baez, said she saw him while she was taking out the trash.

Lopez, who has a child with Baez, fled before police arrived.

Allentown police spotted Lopez's car about a block away and saw him run a stop sign, so they pulled him over. Police took Lopez into custody on a warrant issued after he threatened Baez on July 26.

Police inspected the car before towing it away and found a loaded revolver, a box of ammunition, dark clothing, a bat, a riot baton and a mask in the trunk. The gun was discovered to be stolen from Northampton and Lopez was not permitted to have a gun because of a past domestic assault conviction.

Baez told police she had a restraining order against Lopez, but it expired July 12. She said that since then Lopez had been following her, texting her and calling her with inappropriate comments. She said he would also show up to her home, her sister's home or her friend's home just to annoy her.

She said that July 26, he went to her home and threatened to fight or "pop" anyone who was with her. He also threatened to "pop" her sister if she didn't stay out of their business.

Lopez pleaded guilty last month to stalking, a felony, and misdemeanor charges of possession of a prohibited firearm and making terroristic threats.

Court records show Lopez has remained in jail since his arrest under $250,000 bail.

Anthony ordered Lopez to have no contact with Baez, who didn't attend Thursday's hearing because "she's scared to death" of Lopez, according to Deputy District Attorney Anna-Kristie Marks.